Saturday, August 1, 2026 (Lammas/Midsummer) ; from Jinny in San Diego, CA to Sally in Taneytown, MD
Dear Sal,
This summer I’ve been somewhat spooked by the prospect of local wildfires. As far as I know, the most recent big fire in this part of San Diego was in October, 2007, when two fires that started in rural areas of the county grew rapidly due to Santa Ana winds, merged, and caused massive evacuations and widespread damage. Per the city’s website, during the Witch Creek/Guejito fires:
“More than 197,990 acres of San Diego County burned in the fires, 9,250 acres within the city of San Diego. A total of 365 residences were destroyed in the city, all of them in Rancho Bernardo. Countywide, 1,141 residences were destroyed, and two people died. The fires triggered the largest evacuation in county history. More than 500,000 people lived in the areas evacuated, 200,000 of them within the city.”
Barbara, a neighbor who went on area walks with me when we first moved here, had lived through this set of fires. When I asked her about them, she recalled that she’d had to evacuate at short notice. She then spent about 36 hours in a temporary shelter at the local football stadium before the fires were brought under control enough so it was safe to go home.
Since the January, 2025 Los Angeles area fires, various San-Diego-based non-profits that stress wildfire prevention and/or disaster readiness have sprung up or become more active. Some local ordnances are being changed to help make San Diego more “fire resistant.” I’ve been to a couple of presentations and have talked with the manager of our housing complex. If I understand correctly, by 2029, there will be stricter rules about landscaping and fencing. A “zone zero” area of five feet surrounding dwelling units and auxiliary structures will have to be free of bushes, trees, or other flammable material. Our home owners association will have to adjust all the landscaping “outside the fence” (along with replacing any flammable fencing within five feet of our houses/garages/carports). Individual homeowners will be responsible for correcting conditions “inside the fence.”
So… I’ve been using the rare cool hours in early morning to get rid of any mulch that’s within five feet of our house’s back wall. The rest of our small yard already complies with the new strictures—the two fruit trees we planted during our second year here are well beyond the five foot limit. Our side yard has a brick patio covering all but a couple of feet near the HOA fence, nearly fifteen feet from the house.
Little by little, I’ve replaced the offending mulch with landscape rocks that I collect from area canyons and abandoned gravel piles. I’m pretty much finished. Hope my efforts will not get tested any time soon. I’ve also updated the contact information stored with our “go bag,” the basic clothing, food, and emergency supplies we’d need to take with us if we had to evacuate quickly.
It’s becoming clearer to me over time that as a small-scale farmer, you were made abundantly aware of how tenuous our “control” of weather and outside events can be. Though I doubt I’ll ever become as skillful at rolling with the punches as you could sometimes seem, advancing age has a way of punching unexpectedly from time to time—sometimes aimed at me, at other times at those I most care about.
Enough of being maudlin. Time for a nap. Please stay as cool as you can, and take good care. Lots of virtual hugs!
Love, Jin
